


A Second Opinion

by ParvumAutomaton



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-09
Updated: 2013-11-16
Packaged: 2017-12-31 22:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParvumAutomaton/pseuds/ParvumAutomaton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Getting the Beetle's off mode didn't go exactly as planed. And now Jaime is trapped in his own body, hoping that the team can figure out what happened before the Ambassador can reassert control.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by tumblr user derinthemadscientist 's prompt  
> YJ Fanfic idea: the Team can’t get Jaime off-mode, they can only reprogram the beetle armour to obey somebody else, and due to a strange accident, that person ends up being Bart. Bart tries to hold normal conversations and accidentally ends up commanding BB to do stuff.

“Zatanna you ok? Did it work, or are we back to square one? Who controls the Beetles?” Jaime heard Impulse speak, muffled. He was watching Impulse and Zatanna up on their dias, and was standing next to Green Beetle. But couldn’t turn to get a better view of the Martian.

“Lets find out. Leaver ohw slortnoc ruoy sbaracs!”

Jaime heard the sound of armor folding back. But again he could not look to his right to confirm it. Jaime’s own armor stayed firmly in place. Nothing happened to him other than a brief flash of light.

He saw Impulse shift into combat position in front of Zatanna. He heard his friends move, ready to pounce. Even B’arzz took a slow shaky step back. The silence hung thick in the air, each person was poised, ready for the pin to drop that would signal round two.

But nothing happened, because Jaime could not move, not even to raise his hands in surrender. He just stood there. And waited. They all waited until Bart broke the silence.

“So back to square one then?”

Jaime didn’t respond to the question, but Wonder Girl must have worked quickly because he felt her lasso loop over him, pulling tight and holding him in place, even though he had yet to make a move.

He heard Robin from somewhere behind him, his utter lack of ability to move was the only thing keeping Jaime from jumping at the sudden appearance of his voice.

“I’m reading no external signals since Zatanna worked her mojo. Neither Beetle is in contact with the Reach.”

Jaime saw Impulse approach him, stopping short but peering at him intensely. “So what is it? Is Blue Beetle free of the Reach or not?”

Jaime struggled to pull back or even blink as Impulse waved his hand in front of Jaime’s face. And the green arm that shot out from behind him to stop Impulse’s wave made him shout out loud, or at least out loud in his own head.

Which, at least, got a response of the Scarab kind. _{Apologies, attempting reboot. Attempt 7. Failure. Xrinditch still enabled. Initializing Attempt 8}_

_{Xrinditch?}_ Jaime asked, focusing on the Scarab now that it seemed obvious that he was not going to be hurting anyone, or well, doing anything.

_{ <I> will explain later. Attempt 9 initializing.}_

Jaime’s response was cut off by a hand being placed on his back. For a split second he felt as though he was about to topple forward. But nothing happened. He listened to Green Beetle talk behind him.

“Reach Scarabs are usually autonomous, acting for the good of the Reach and ceding control only to the Ambassador, and only when needed. However this scarab was... different.

Batgirl spoke from the edge of Jaime’s vision. He tried to turn his head towards her, but again, nothing happened.

“We’ve been over this, and?”

“Apologies,” Green Beetle spoke again “They sent my scarab to put this one into...I believe your Earth term would be ‘rebugging’ mode.”

“Debugging,” Robin corrected in time with Jaime’s mental statement, “So what they restarted Blue Beetle in Safe Mode.”

Green Beetle ignored Bart’s statement that “This is not very ‘safe’”, and nodded in the direction of the Boy Wonder.

“Indeed, and while it was time consuming for the Ambassador to control every action, disabling all autonomous functionality did allow for them to get Blue Beetle back.”

“Ok, that’s great and all” Bart argued, facing Green Beetle and filling most of Jaime’s view, “but Reach control has been crashed, You’ve been crashed. Shouldn’t he be crashed as well?”

Jaime felt, even through the armor, Green Beetle grip his shoulder. It was firm but not painful, and through that contact he could feel B’razz shake as he took a breath.

“I am sorry. Whatever this spell was, it temporarily cut Reach ties and did the same thing to my scarab as was done to his. However while his scarab is still in ‘safe mode’ it is still very vulnerable to falling back under Reach control. Believe me if I knew how to undo it I would. But as it stands, as soon as the Reach commands return...”

Jaime felt his stomach drop or at least imagined that it did. He vaguely noted the Scarab speaking to him, _{Initialization attempt 14}._

“Don’t they have a failsafe,” Bumblebee spoke from way too close to his ear. And for once Jaime was glad he was frozen, as he did not want to explain to Karen why he swatted her. “like an overwrite or exit if the agent was in danger due to faulty commands?”

“I do not know” Green Beetle admitted and released Jaime’s shoulder.

Batgirl spoke again, and Jaime gave up trying to pinpoint where she was. “We don’t have time, Queen Bee’s men can be back any second.”

Impulse was initially out of Jaime’s view and he assumed the speedster was in front of Batgirl now.

“You’re not suggesting leaving him are you? Blue Beetle is staying with us. He is not going to be used by the Reach again.”

_{This is good.}_ The Scarab purred.

Jaime’s attention snapped back to his internal world. _{What do you mean this is good? Scarab, If the Reach control again they are going to hurt by us. Is that really what you want?}_

_{If that is really what you think,}_ The Scarab responded, throwing Jaime’s own words back at him _{then it is you who has learned nothing from our time together.}_

Jaime attempted to smile, and thought back at the Scarab, _{Ok, ok, then what is good?}_

_{We must obey the commanders orders... But...}_

_{For now none have been issued right?}_

_{No!}_ The Scarab replied.

But Jaime had already turned his attention outward again. They were out of the temple held by Rocket’s containment bubble and Wonder Girl’s lasso. There was no magical reinforcement, and Zatanna’s pale face told Jaime that there probably would not be.

_{How long?}_ Jaime asked the Scarab, _{How long until the Ambassador can get through and begin reissuing commands?}_

_{Never!}_ The Scarab replied quickly, before adding _{barring another reset. But our command is clear.}_

_{Huh, But the only things even close to a command...}_ Jaime hoped the Scarab could feel the smirk that he longed to show, _{You clever little... Why didn’t you tell me?}_

The Scarab just hummed in response, and Jaime settled in to watch the ride from Rocket’s bubble. He tried really really hard not to think about how he was just a statue. How he was locked in, because at least he wasn’t hurting anyone... right?

He had no right to complain, since he got himself into this mess. Because now he could no longer be used to end the world. This was a good thing, right? He just wanted to grab his head and curl up. But again nothing moved.

_{Jaime Reyes... are you...}_

_{I’m fine hermano. I’m fine... where are we.}_

_{The Batgirl called the Nightwing and transferred us to a secure location}_ If the Scarab had human eyes, it would have rolled them at the word secure.

Jaime refocused his attention on the outside world. Most of the team had already left, only Nightwing and Impulse remained.

Nightwing’s hand was on Impulse’s shoulder, his face was tense. “Bart you should head out too, we’ll reconvene on this after we have all had some rest.”

Bart glanced over his shoulder at Jaime, but did not meet his eyes, “But what about Blue?”

“I don’t think he’s going anywhere.” Nightwing sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “I’m sorry Bart, but we will fix this. I promise.”

With that Nightwing led Bart out of the secure room, and left Jaime alone to stare at the wall.

It was flat and gray. Probably made out of steel, sanded but not enough to be reflective. It seemed to be so very close and yet totally out of his reach.

Breathe.

Ok, so he couldn’t actually control his breathing but he could control his mental breathing. He just had to calm down. I’d be morning before he knew it and they would be back with a way to completely fix him then. He could do this.

_{Scarab. How long has it been?}_

_{6 minutes, 38 seconds since the Nightwing left the room.}_

He couldn’t do this. Still he had to.

His stomach lurched, and the wall moved closer. Or he moved closer to the wall.

_{Wait, what now?}_ Jaime directed towards the scarab as they moved towards and broke down the door.

_{We must obey the directive.}_

_{Is anyone going to get hurt? The Reach haven’t... }_ Jaime responded only to get cut off by the Scarab, as they launched into the air.

_{Negative! Both questions are negative.}_

With that Jaime sat back and watched. At least there was something interesting to look at. And flying, well flying was awesome. And for the first time in a while he could just enjoy it.

They flew with wings, not jetpack, but even so he found himself landing in the backyard of a familiar house far too soon. They moved towards the door.

_{Dude, lockpick. Remember that’s how we get through doors when there could be people on the other side of them.}_ He shouted as a sonic cannon began to form on his right hand.

The cannon melted away and they carefully unlocked the back door. If Jaime could control his face, he would have been beaming. But he couldn’t, and his face was locked with narrowed eyes and a slight scowl.

Before he could step through the door Bart was in front of him. Arms crossed, wearing running shoes and Flash pajamas. He glowered and tried to block the doorway.

Neither of them moved for several minutes. Jaime was surprised that Bart could stay still for that long until he heard the front door of the house close, then he just felt awful.

Then Bart sprang into action. Rushing past Jaime faster than the Scarab could track. Still he watched as the world spun when the Scarab tried to keep them facing the speedster. Bart, who was at his back before the turn, jumped back two feet at the movement.

Jaime felt himself move towards Bart again, with slow steps. His arms were held stiffly down next to his sides.

Bart was moving backwards again, and Jaime felt himself follow. He knew Bart could be half a continent away by now. Once they were out of the gate, Bart ran. He was not going supersonic, and he was constantly looking over his shoulder at Jaime until they were well out of the city, deep in a practically empty desert.

That was when Bart took off too quickly for the Scarab to follow. However they still flew in the direction that Bart had left. Again just using their wings. And again Jaime settled in to enjoy the flight.

He wasn’t expecting any issues until he landed at least. But he was proved wrong when he entered the outskirts of Blüdhaven.

An explosion from the front of his armor rocked him backwards. But that made no real change to the approach. The thick smoke that followed did.

The tracker that the armor was using to follow Impulse began to jump around, and Jaime felt their flight slow until they were hovering, calculations and filtered data filled Jaime’s vision. He also heard Nightwing explain from a rooftop nearby.

“I’ve worked with Zee on ‘em. That should keep Blue occupied at least for now.”

From another rooftop he heard Bart answer “Crash”.

Blue Beetle plummeted out of the sky.

The landing didn’t hurt Jaime, but it did leave him frozen in an awkward position, staring at a very boring curb and half of a storm drain.

Jaime could feel the wind from Bart stopping near him. And again, he mentally jumped when Nightwing spoke right behind his head.

“That was a little stronger than expected.”

Jaime saw Nightwing’s hand appear and wave right in front of his face. And he strained to pull back or at the very least follow the motion of the hand. But again, nothing happened.

“Do you think,” Bart began, pausing slightly after the word think and lowering his voice, “he’s going to get back up?”

With that Jaime felt himself stand. He was a little bit thankful, as it was more comfortable than the sprawled position that he was in prior. The only thing was...

_{That wasn’t an order,}_ he mentally pressed the Scarab, _{couldn’t you have worked around it or something?}_

_{Affirmative, however the Impulse must be shown the power that he has over us so that he will not accidently order something we cannot get around.}_

Jaime attempted and failed at smiling at the Scarab, _{And here I thought that you wouldn’t want to show weakness.}_

_{Are you complaining?}_ The Scarab responded, _{you were always the one urging us to trust.}_

Jaime mentally laughed, _{No, no. This is good. Just um... keep me updated, you know.}_

When Jaime heard the Scarab click in approval he turned his attention outward again. He was more than a little surprised to find that the three of them, himself, Nightwing, and Bart, were inside of the warehouse that was doubling as the team’s temporary headquarters.

Nightwing was the one that was speaking, “That settles it Blue Beetle is definitely following you, and your orders.”

“I don’t believe it,” Bart shook his head. “I mean Zee’s charm temporarily disabled him, then he started doing what he was before. Coincidence. I mean you think that if I tell Blue to destroy that table...”

Jaime felt his arm raise, the armor around that hand begin to bulk up and change as his vision locked onto an endtable.

_{Sonic please}_ Jaime asked flatly, _{if we have a choice, less risk of collateral.}_

The next thing he heard was the whine of his Sonic cannon and the shattering of the table.

Nightwing laughed before he spoke. “Yes I do believe so.”

Bart opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. He did so two more times before settling on the phrase, “this isn’t good.”

Nightwing said exactly what Jaime was thinking, “It’s better than the Reach.”

Bart bit his lip and looked at him, He looked back at Nightwing and spoke slowly. “But I can’t... I just...It’s too much like what...”

Nightwing laid a hand on Bart’s shoulder. “We will figure this out, I promise. For now just wait here. ”                  

“Right, wait here,” Bart said to himself after Nightwing left. “Because I'm so good at waiting.”

Bart suddenly appeared right in front of Jaime, who again tried to jerk back. It was really disconcerting not to be able to react the people around him.

“And I guess, if I go anywhere you'll follow.”

Jaime attempted to roll his eyes while Bart realized his mistake. “And even if you wouldn't have before, you would now.”

Bart let out an exasperated sigh, threw up his hands and disappeared from Jaime's vision again. Only to reappear on the couch that was behind the recently destroyed end-table.

“You, you can sit too, if...”

Jaime felt himself drop, and he found himself sitting cross-legged in the same spot where he had been standing.

“On the couch,” Bart cut in franticly, “I meant you can sit on the couch”

Jaime felt himself stand and walk before he was lowered to sit stiffly on the edge of the couch, his vision was straight ahead although he could hear Bart groan on his left.

“Ok, you still look really uncomfortable. And I feel even worse. Um you can ign... No bad idea. You should um... I don't know. You should wait in a position that is comfortable for Jaime ok? Can you do that?”

_{Comfortable to me, how exactly does he expect a command like that to work?}_

_{It means}_ The Scarab seemed to fumble for words _{How would you feel most comfortable waiting, right now?}_

_{Wait}_ Jaime could feel moisture begin to form at the corners of his eyes. _{I...I get to choose?}_

_{Affirmative.}_

Jaime let out a shaky breath and sunk back into the couch, as he pushed the armor away. The movement felt strange, sluggish, like there was a delay between his attempted movement and his body responding. But Jaime didn't care. Instead he grabbed one of the large cushions at the armrest, hugged it to his chest. He then lowered his head against it and shut his eyes.

_{How much longer?}_ He asked the Scarab, and noticed with a falling heart that he did not speak out loud.

_{Apologizes, that is all. For now.}_

Jaime was for the first time happy that his body could not project his disappointment. _{Still, better than I've had in a long time. Thank you, you didn't have to...}_

_{ <I> did}_

Jaime would have sighed if he could have _{No, I know how you are with the control, you could have only asked for vague input or put us into our most common sitting position or...}_

_{ <I> didn't have to do it because of the command. But …}_

Jaime heard himself speak “Yes.”

Bart's hand was on his shoulder, and he could feel it shaking.

“Oh God. I... We didn't... Ok... I'll be back in a flash,” Jaime felt the hand pull back as Bart spoke, “Just stay here ok? Right, of course you will. Sorry. Sorry.”

With that Bart was gone. And Jaime was left waiting, he let himself get lost in the musty smell of the cushion. He could almost imagine falling asleep. He was finally out of Reach control. He can finally let go of his constant worry that the Reach will hurt someone using his face.

Nigthwing's voice broke him out of his retrieve. Not that he could open his eyes to watch what was going on since he had closed them.

“Are you sure? I know how much you want...”

“Yes” Bart answered, annoyed. “I can be careful and...”

“I know,” Nightwing cut him off. “Just ask him again ok.”

“Fine” Bart responded harshly. And then his tone turned soft. “Answer me honestly. Is Jaime awake and aware, right now?”

Jaime heard himself answer again. “Yes.”

No one spoke again for several long moments, and Jaime was sure that for the first time he could hear Nightwing breathe.

“This changes things,” He whispered. “How long... Nevermind at the moment it's not important.”

Jaime felt a hand land on his back, it must have been Nightwing, for when he spoke again he was right next to Jaime's ear.

“Jaime listen to me. I promise we will fix this. We will get you out of there.”

Jaime felt Nightwing take his hand off of him. “Bart stay with him. I'm going to get a team together.”

He heard Bart whisper “You know I'm really not comfortable with Green Beetle messing with you again.”

_{You know, I think now that he's free it should be fine. Right Scarab?}_

_{Only if the B'razz O'oomm was trustworthy before finding the scarab. Which is not guaranteed.}_

_{See...}_

But Bart did not respond. Instead he was still speaking, as if Jaime had not tried to interact act at all. “I means it's not fair for you at all and believe me I want to do whatever I can to you know...But Blue... I'm at a loss here...”

Jaime ignored Bart again, and spoke to the Scarab _{What gives hermano? The Ambassador could hear me like this, now that Bart knows I'm here shouldn't he also...}_

_{Negative, the Ambassador was able to hear and relay information through his...}_

_{Radio thing?}_ Jaime cut in.

_{It's not a... Nevermind... close enough.}_ The Scarab relented with a mental huff. _{It also helped to prevent false commands. Now we are relying solely on hearing to...}_

Jaime's heart sank, he hadn't even thought about that. _{Wait, is the Ambassador still listening in?}_

_{Assurances. That would count as being used by the Reach. So I am blocking all attempted communications with extreme prejudice.}_

_{Good... }_

Jaime's eyes flew open. He found himself staring at a piece of paper with two sentences neatly written on it. Before he could process what exactly was written he heard himself answer “Yes.”

The paper disappeared from his view quickly and he heard Bart give a short laugh.

“Ok,” Bart said enunciating each word clearly and reading from the paper. “I order you to move however Jaime wants to move and say whatever Jaime wants to say.”

Bart stood in front of him holding his breath, and Jaime reached up and grabbed his head. He tried to stand, but overshot, and wound up on his knees in front of the couch. The vague pain in his knees was much more a relief than an annoyance, the Reach would never let him make a misstep like that.

“Jaime,” Bart moved in front of him, and Jaime looked up at him. “are you...you?”

_{Yes.}_

Bart didn't move but his brows knit together.

_{Scarab! Why didn't it...}_

_{Jaime Reyes you are still 'locked in'}_ the Scarab said softly _{You'll need to focus on speaking.}_

_{Oh Ok, I want to say...}_

“Yes,” He spoke slowly. “It worked. Somewhat. There are still issues, but it worked.”


	2. Chapter 2

Jaime slowly, the awkward delay didn’t feel as bad when he wasn’t rushing, reached up to Bart’s proffered hand. He allowed himself to be pulled onto his feet.

He was only standing for a second before he felt himself being crushed. It wasn’t too hard, he could still breathe, and the warmth was nice. He stood rigid as he tried to figure out what exactly was going on, but the Scarab wasn’t warning him about anything. So it couldn’t be dangerous.

As the pressure began to relax he looked down and saw the top of Bart’s head. Things clicked, and he returned the hug before Bart had completely pulled away. That lead to a whole new round of Jaime being crushed. But he didn’t mind at all, it felt like it had been so long since he could have this kind of interaction with someone, and even the Scarab seemed strangely ok with the continued contact.

It was Bart who broke the embrace first, gently guiding Jaime back onto the couch.

Bart was also the one that broke the easy silence between them, “So, I imagine it’ll still be a couple of hours till Nightwing gets back...”

Jaime nodded and gave a small shrug. He could wait like this. Just being able to close his eyes or chose where to look was infinitely better than being trapped alone in a small room staring at a small section of wall. And anything was better than helplessly watching himself hurt his friends. For the first time since the Reach captured him, he could just feel himself begin to relax. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch. This was almost nice.

He could feel Bart move. The vibrations that radiated from Bart’s tapping foot through the frame of the couch, the squeak of the old couch springs when he stood, and the soft thump of his shoes as he paced. The consistent thump was hypnotic, like ticks of a clock, driving out all worry.

“I know,” Bart spoke suddenly.

Jaime jerked internally, and if he hadn’t been operating with a delay it would have manifested in his physical body as well. Instead he was able to slowly open his eyes and sit up to look at Bart, who was continuing to speak.

“We can play video games until he gets here.”

Jaime thought it over. On one hand Bart had given up everything. He had come back to save him, was saving him, and the least that he could do would be return the favor in some small part to help eliminate his friend’s boredom. On the other hand under Reach control he was constantly fighting, taunting, talking, anything to prove that he was still him. He might not have been able to control any outcome but he couldn’t let his guard down for a moment lest he wake up with blood on his hands. And for the first time in a long time he could relax. And the thought of just curling up and going to sleep for eight hours or so was seriously appealing.

As he shut his eyes and started composing a speech to Bart in his head, he felt himself lean over and pick up a controller.

_{Scarab?}_

_{Apologies}_ , and the Scarab’s mechanical voice was more clipped that it usually was, _{our system interpreted that as a command.}_

_{It’s ok,}_ Jaime soothed. He hesitated before adding, _{I probably would have decided to play anyway...}_

Bart turned on some racing game, all bright lights and colors. At first Jaime paid attention to the bright rainbow scenery and the abundance of turtle shells. There was some catchy upbeat music playing, and bells and whistles that would go off with power ups or whatever.

Under the orders to play, how well he did at the game was not at all affected by how focused he was. And it wasn’t like he could really hurt anyone just playing a game. So he let his mind wander. He’d have to figure out a way to tell his parents what went on, without implying that he blamed them. Because he didn’t, he didn’t blame anyone for this mess but himself.

He completely ignored the crescendo-ing of the music with it’s occasional clanging alerts, and the staccato voice that sometimes spoke over it.  Because he knew even without any guilt his mom would be worried. She’d probably force him into bed rest, bringing him fresh soup and a sports drink. He’d try and protest. Saying that he wasn’t sick now, and they didn’t have to baby him because he wasn’t a kid anymore. Of course that was when he knew that his dad would butt in, telling him it wouldn’t hurt to be their kid for just a little longer.

And his sister, Jaime could hear it now, she’d be all Jaime pay attention to me, Jaime I want to play, Jaime...

“Jaime listen to me, please.”

He twisted suddenly, eyes tearing away from the screen and his musing shattering away. He was solely focused on Bart who was sitting next to him. Bart still looked as frantic as his earlier words had sounded. But Jaime couldn’t question him on that at all. Instead he just listened.

Bart also waited, and an awkward silence dragged until Bart broke it.

“Dude, what happened?”

Jaime heard himself answer in a flat mechanical voice. “We are simply obeying orders.”

The silence dragged again. Jaime felt Bart grab his hands and he could feel the pressure from Bart’s forehead as it pressed against his chest.

“I am such an idiot. I just... I’m so sorry her-mano.” He felt the words from Bart’s low mumble almost more than he heard them.

_{Scarab can I do anything right now?}_

_{The listen command was overwritten when he wanted you to answer a question. You should be free to respond if you want to say anything.}_

_{Fine. Yes. I want to say...}_

“Not your fault _hermano,_ not your fault.”

Jaime reached up, he wanted to embrace Bart, or at least pat his back. However by the time his hands were up, Bart was already gone. In addition the television was off and the game station was nowhere to be seen. And Bart was standing in front of him, not meeting his eyes.

“But I should have thought about it” He whispered harshly, clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles went white, and nails dug into his palms, “there’s no excuse.”

Jaime reached out and grabbed his hand, “ _Hermano,_ this isn’t something we train for.”

“I know,” Bart groaned, “I know. I just. What do _you_ want to do, while we wait?”

Jaime answered quickly, “honestly I just want to take a nap. This is the first time I can really relax in like months _ése._ ”

“On it.”

Before Jaime even knew that Bart was gone, he felt a rush of air and a thick blanket being draped over him.

That was all the prompting that Jaime needed. And after two false starts, he was able to kick his shoes off. Pulling the blanket towards his chest, he leaned back and curled up on the couch, head resting on the armrest. He heard Bart near by pacing slowly but not speaking. And Jaime lazily gazed at the ceiling, counting the prongs on the sprinkler head above him until he didn’t have the will to keep his eyes open anymore.

Besides the blanket was warm, and thick enough to have a soft, comforting weight. And the couch seemed to be the second most comfortable couch that he had ever been on. It was beat only by his parents’ old couch where he would sleep away the day when home sick. His breathing became slow and steady, and he allowed himself to drift off.

For the first time since the Reach took over, he slept well enough to dream. Dreams that were filled with scarabs, and fires, destruction and crying. And Jaime would strain against his unmoving body to try and help. He continued to try, frustration mounting. He was sure he would be shouting if he had a voice. And then blue light flooded his vision, unlocking his joints.

He ran, towards the destruction. Searching for life. He felt warmth, a hand, on his shoulder. The fires seemed to stop, the buildings began to repair themselves. Still he fell to his hands and knees, digging against the remaining debris. He had to make sure no one was trapped underneath.

He felt a blanket being placed around him. It looked thin and silver, like the ones firefighters use with people they rescue, but it felt much thicker. He pulled it close, relishing the warmth.

Beside him, he became aware of a firefighter, in blue and black armor. The shield over their face had been pulled down but the dark reflective surface with hints of yellow and orange dancing over it was oddly comforting. They didn’t speak, but Jaime understood. No one else was hurt, just him, but he was safe now. He was safe.

He stopped shaking, but still clutched the blanket. He watched the building continue to rebuild themselves. Plants healing and reappearing between them.

Then he heard a whisper, louder more defined than any previous talking. It was Bart’s voice. “At last, time to let in the calverley.”

The cold woke Jaime with a start. His socks barely shielded his feet from the concrete floor, and his thin grey hoodie provided much less warmth than the blanket had. He blinked, trying to orient himself. He was walking, halfway between the couch and the door. Beyond the door were familiar voices. And beside him he could hear Bart cursing and apologizing.

“Just, just ignore my commands if they do not start with ‘I order you to’.” He heard Bart say, his voice was cracking, “You don’t have to do what I say.”

Jaime wanted to shout at Bart, tell him this was a bad idea. His order, his most important order that he was relying on that to prevent the Ambassador from coming back, it didn’t start with ‘I order you to’, but maybe the Scarab could...

“Bart, wow, that worked amazingly.” Jaime heard himself say. He felt his lips twist into a smile.

_{No!}_

_{Human, I admit your evasion was moderately clever. But in end, like all of your struggles, it was in vain.}_

Jaime knew that voice, it was one he had hoped never ever hear in his head again, the Ambassador.

The Scarab didn’t speak, but he could feel the frustration radiating off of it. And Jaime watched, like some horrible repeating movie as Bart smiled at his words.

Beside them a sonic cannon destroyed the door.

Jaime watched as Bart ran in front of him. Apologizing frantically to Nightwing for not answering the door sooner, and giving a rushed explanation of what happened. He also placed his body between Green Beetle, who had changed his sonic cannon to a plasma cannon, and Blue Beetle.

Green Beetle did not lower his weapon. And Nightwing positioned himself off to the side.

“Bart,” Nightwing spoke calmly, “Step away.”

“No you’re overreacting. He’s fine, it’s working. Right?” Bart’s voice broke Jaime’s heart.

Nightwing answered with two words, “External signals.”

Before he had finished speaking, the armor, under the Ambassador's orders, enveloped him. And even as Bart turned to face him, eyes narrowed and lips pressed into a grim line, Blue Beetle had already followed the command to stop him and launched a staple.

It caught Bart across the chest, connecting him to the wall near the doorway. Fortunately the Scarab fired the shot Jaime’s way and it staple only trapped Bart, it didn’t impale him. It did however cause him to slam the back of his head against the wall hard.

Even as Bart slumped forward, Nightwing and Green Beetle split up. While his body fought Jaime taunted.

_{They stopped you once they’ll stop you again, you are not going to win this.}_

_{Of course I am going to win this},_ the Ambassador laughed in his head, _{Scarab tell me what you know of Nightwing, I want to make sure all of my bases are covered}_

_{The Nightwing has been trained under the Batman. He is an acrobat of immense skill. He uses gadgets to his advantage, but has no superhuman powers. He is five foot ten inches tall. He weighs one hundred and seventy five pounds. His logic is flawless. He has worked with Zatanna to develop...}_

_{That is quite enough Scarab,}_ the Ambassador cut it off with a sigh. _{Stop them both now.}_

Jaime watched as his body sprung into action. Firing one staple that caught Green Beetle across his torso. It pinned him to the wall farthest from Bart, but that was all it did. Before Jaime had time to wonder how that would hold a Martian, he felt himself rocket towards Nightwing, and push him up against the wall. The staple gun came out again and fired one staple over Nightwing’s chest. Nightwing arched up and Jaime felt him plant both feet on his armor, before he used all of the force in his legs to push Blue Beetle away.

Jaime saw Nightwing reach for something in his belt, but his head turned away to face an empty wall before Jaime could see what it was.

Then the Scarab spoke, _{they are stopped.}_

_{Scarab,}_ the Ambassador growled, _{How long do you think your ‘restraints’ will hold?}_

_{Until approximately, <calculating>, now.}_

Jaime couldn’t help but laugh as he felt Green Beetle grab him and throw him across the room. He only wished that the plasma blasts that followed packed a bit more of a punch, as it was they just rolled off of the armor.

_{I had forgotten how incompetent you are. Scarab use fire to stop the Martian}_ The Ambassador explained slowly, _{Do not kill him, yet, he could still be of use once back on Mode.}_

The Scarab moved efficiently. Jaime watched as his arm reconfigured and lit the couch on fire with a low intensity plasma blast. He then felt himself pick up the burning furniture and fling it at Green Beetle. Just before it impacted, Jaime felt his arm raise and reconfigure into a sonic cannon, which broke the couch apart, surrounding Green Beetle with the flaming wreckage.  

The Scarab turned them slowly towards the door when the Ambassador sneared in his mind, _{These heroes have been a pain for far too long. Kill Impulse and Nightwing.}_

Jaime screamed at the Ambassador. _{You really don’t need to do this, they’re down now. We can just leave}_ But his arm still transformed into the same blade that he had almost killed Bart with earlier that day.

_{You, your weakness must be what is corrupting the Scarab. But I will break you boy. First by making you rid us of these annoyances, then when that damned magician. It will be a big night for you.}_

Jaime felt his body move towards Bart, one slow step at a time. He felt his sword slowly raise.

Then everything went fuzzy.

_{Ha Ha}_ Jaime laughed, _{Nightwing’s magic dust, just what the doctor ordered.}_

_{Why did you not tell me about this Scarab!}_ The Ambassador’s voice had just as much static as Jaime’s vision, but it was still audible.

_{ <I> attempted to, however <you> cut me off.} _The Scarab answered flatly, before giving a small mental sigh. _{This timing is unfortunate.}_

And suddenly Jaime felt himself being drenched by a deluge of water. The fire around Green Beetle had set off the sprinkler system, it would free Green Beetle. But it also began forcing Zatanna’s dust out of the air. And Jaime worried that he would be ready to move before Green Beetle who was just now forcing his way onto his feet.

_{Enough of this!}_ The Ambassador’s voice was losing its static, and Jaime’s vision was clearing _{Kill them, I order you to do it now.}_

Jaime felt himself take off in a run. Rushing at Bart, blade aiming for his neck.

_{Scarab!}_ He called, things finally clicking into place, _{Bart’s last order, it didn’t start with_ ‘I order you to’ _!}_

_{That's is of no importance}_ The Ambassador laughed in his head, _{the Scarab listens only to me, right Scarab?}_

The Scarab answered slowly, mechanically, _{ <I> must obey the primary objective.}_

The Ambassador laughed, but the Scarab continued talking faster and more forcefully, _{The Reach will not use <us> any more!}_

Jaime laughed back even as his vision went blue with an internal light.

As it cleared he felt the downpouring water and a plasma blast bounce harmlessly off of him. His arm was raised, his sword pressing into Bart’s neck, but not yet drawing blood. His eyes locked with Bart’s, and he took in both his defiant glare and the small tremor of fear that shook his body.

_{Take it away,}_ Jaime hissed in his head _{No armor, no weapons not now. That is how I want to move.}_

Jaime ignored the Scarab’s protests as the armor instantly folded back. Instead he watched Bart’s face change from defiance, to relief, to horror over the course of half a second.  

That was when the pounding cold of the water was replaced with a massive amount of heat. Heat that was vaporizing the water on his right arm, and burning through the sleeve of his hoodie. Before he could piece together what just happened, his vision flashed blue and the Scarab formed armor under  the remains of his hoodie to guard his right arm and torso. It was just in time to protect against the second plasma blast. However it was not enough to stop him from being sent flying across the room. The left side of his head slammed against the wall, and everything went dark before he hit the ground.

***

When the water from the sprinklers woke Bart up, he watched an impassive Blue Beetle rush towards him with blade bared. Staring into those blank eyes as the sword pressed against his throat, he thought that that would be the scariest thing that he would face that day. Moments later he realized that he was wrong.

Milliseconds can stretch out for speedsters. And it seemed like it took ages for Jaime to push back the armor. But it was Jaime, probably, the blade was gone, and he was giving Bart a small sad smile that just barely crinkled the corners of his eyes. Bart knew that that smile would be embedded in his mind.

Then, before even Bart had the time to get out a word, he noticed it. The plasma blast heading towards them. Just over Jaime’s shoulder he could see Green Beetle’s eyes slowly go wide, but it was too late. Too late to stop the blast that was fired while Blue was on mode. Bart felt frozen as he watched it approach. He was blinded by the light just before it hit, and when his vision returned he could only focus on Jaime laying limp against the far wall and the lingering smell of burned cloth.

Bart closed his eyes and blocked everything out. He vibrated out of the staple that had trapped him. Then moving so quickly the water didn’t even splash, he was at Jaime’s side.

Green Beetle was already there, kneeling next to Jaime. One arm was raised over the prone boy, reconfigured to shield him from the cold water that was continuing to fall.

Bart let out a breath he didn’t know that he was holding when he heard the Martian say, “He is breathing.”

Bart reached out hesitantly. He stopped just above the ragged hole in Jaime’s hoodie that the blast had burned through. He couldn’t get a clear view of Jaime’s arm and didn’t want to risk making it worse by touching it. Instead he reached down and grabbed Jaime’s right hand. His fingers were cold, but Bart hoped that that was just from the freezing water and not something worse.

“That’s good,” Nightwing addressed Green Beetle from behind Bart.

And Bart could hear the splash as Nightwing dropped the section of Blue’s staple that he had cut to free himself. Three long steps later, Nightwing knelt by Jaime’s head. He checked a piece of equipment on his wrist before bringing two fingers to Jaime’s throat. As he counted he spoke.

“I’m not reading any more external signals, whatever happened is over, for now.” And after a moment of hesitation, Nightwing pulled his hand back, “we need to move him.”

Bart was about to protest when he saw shivers wrack Jaime’s body. The cold water he was laying in wasn’t doing him any favors.

Green Beetle lifted Jaime with his telekinesis, careful not to move the boy’s neck just in case. It wasn’t that much warmer outside, but at least it was dry.  

Bart stayed with him as he heard Nightwing call Zatanna implore her to hurry. He then called Dr. Cross, but Bart didn’t listen in. He just focused on Jaime, his lips were pressed tight together as he planned out his order.

He didn’t dare say anything until he saw Jaime’s eyes begin to flutter. Then Bart spoke in a clipped tone, “I order you, for any order given while you are healing, if it conflicts with your healing you are to disregard it.”

He hated doing that. He hated forcing his will on his best friend. But right now there was no choice, and it was better this then screwing up again and causing Jaime to hurt himself. He watched Jaime nervously. Usually he responded right away to an order, a nod or some other form of confirmation, even if the order itself didn’t have a visible outcome.

Bart clenched his fists, worried, maybe even responding would hurt him. And then finally Jaime nodded and mumbled, “that should work.”

With that Bart launched into a flurry of questions. “What happened? Are you ok? Are you, you? You must be you. Are you hurting anywhere? And are you crazy? Don’t you know not to armor down in front of a blast?”

“One at a time _hermano._ ” Jaime asked, breaking into Bart’s monologue, and Bart obliged him by falling silent.

“I’m fine.”

Bart didn’t really think how weird it was that Jaime was answering the questions out of order. Instead Bart felt his panic rise as Jaime made a move to sit up. Before Bart could think about yelling at him to stay still Nightwing was on him, gently pushing down on Jaime’s shoulders, “Glad you feel ok kid, but for now you really shouldn’t move, just in case”.

Bart was glad to see that Jaime relented, he stopped trying to sit up and instead just kept slowly talking to him.

“As for what happened, we’re using one of the first statements, or uh ‘commands’ I guess, that you gave us to fight off Reach control while in safe mode. It was not exactly a good command to have to ignore.”

Bart looked away from Jaime masking a frustrated noise. He was upset he put his friend through this, but this was about Jaime right now, not him. So Bart took a deep breath and continued evenly. “I see. So then, how’d you get out?”

Jaime smirked, “That ignore command, it wasn’t structured like a command I had to obey.”

Bart felt a grin forming and turned to Nightwing, “So now what?”

Jaime answered the question first with a question of his own, “Wait, what do you mean ‘The Bumblebee was right’?”

Bart exchanged a glance with both Green Beetle and Nightwing. Nighting gently laid his hand on Jaime’s forehead, and Bart gracefully answered Jaime’s question, “I don’t know? Um. That wasn’t the question?”

“Sorry,” Jaime apologized, and then his eyes got wide and a grin covered his face.

He pushed at Nightwing’s arms, trying to sit up, but between Nightwing’s hands and Green Beetle’s telekinesis he was kept mostly still.

However that didn’t stop him from shouting, “oh OH! Ask me to do something, _hermano.”_

“I really don’t think...”

Jaime interrupted him, still grinning and twisting against Nightwing’s protests to get look at Bart, “It can be something small like a thumbs up or whatever, I just want to see...”

Bart gave a slow nod, but he was not smiling. “Ok, I order you to give a thumbs up.”

Bart watched Jaime’s grin widened, but neither one of Jaime’s hands moved. Bart began to return Jaime’s smile, pushing on a second command, just in case both of Jaime’s thumbs were injured or something.

“I order you to say ‘queueing’.”

“Really,” Jaime replied “That’s your random word?”

Nightwing cut off their banter, “Blue, right now I really need you to calm down and lie still.”

Jaime became somber immediately, “Right sorry, after everything I don’t blame you for not trusting I’m free of the Reach.”

“That’s not it, ” Nightwing sighed before continuing, “although you can be sure Zatanna will double check when she gets here.”

“Then what?”

“Apologies,” Green Beetle spoke slowly, “but you took a plasma blast unarmored...”

“It’s fine, I’m fine” Jaime gave Green Beetle a soft smile.

“Adrenalin can cause you to not feel even major injuries,” Nightwing explained softly.

“But, Scarab broke us out of safe mode in time to get the armor up.” Jaime’s left arm moved towards his head before it was stopped, “mostly.”

Bart immediately moved his hand up Jaime’s right arm. The tension flooded away from his body in the form of a small shaky laugh as he felt the smooth armor underneath the burned hole in the hoodie.

Green Beetle must have seen him relax because he turned back to Jaime and asked quietly, “how?”

Jaime was silent for a moment before he launched into his explanation, “We uh we still had a standing order that we had to move like I wanted to. And I wasn’t thinking about incoming attacks, I just wanted out of the armor. And Karen was right, when an order put me in danger, the Scarab was able to override the ‘safe mode’.”

He then directed his attention at Nightwing, “can I get up now? My arm isn’t actually burned.”

Nightwing just shook his head, “You still hit your head hard back there, and we don’t know if there are side effects from these control shifts. So until we get you cleared by a doctor, no.”

Jaime relented, and Bart waited anxiously as the minutes passed. Zatanna arrived first, but hesitated using her magic until they got Jaime checked over. It was still another two minutes before Dr. Cross arrived.

Over the course of both examinations, Bart was ecstatic that the worst news that they got was that Jaime should probably stay overnight at STAR labs just to be safe. And Bart didn’t mind just waiting while Jaime slept under observation. Because he knew, from the second that Zatanna’s spell had confirmed that Jaime was indeed free, that the Reach couldn’t last here. That they were going to give the Reach what they had coming.


End file.
